+Jason ScurtuThe truth is, elementary OS does not run its own repositories because we cannot afford it currently. It's always easy to say "they should make their own infrastructure" but for example Canonical is most likely having a large sysadmin team and tons of server for their infrastructure. We cannot pay for even one of these aspects, yet alone both to run a stable and secure build-/repo-server farm. IT infrastructure is consuming tons of time and money. That's why we use Canonical's offers for free software.

You see, it's kind of a difficult topic. You don't want to fund something that relies on Canonical and we cannot move out because we don't have enough funding. I think both sides have arguments, but it's just a fact elementary cannot afford it currently.

Regarding that "photoshop distro" thing (which sounds a bit like "they just use Ubuntu and polish it a little bit"; if I'm wrong with that, I'm very sorry for missunderstanding you :/ ): Actually, a significant amount of packages on a fresh Freya install are either written or patched by us. If you're interested in what packages are patched by us somehow, look at https://launchpad.net/~elementary-os/+archive/ubuntu/os-patches - You will see a lot of core packages we patched to match our requirements. That's exactly what Ubuntu is doing, they pull in Debian packages and patch them. And that's perfectly okay, that's how derived distros work. Additionally, the whole desktop environment you see is written from scratch by the elementary team - It's no GNOME fork (like Linux Mint's Cinnamon is) or something like that with a polished theme. We definetly put some effort into writing all these pieces of software.﻿

Freya 2, Full install on an Inspiron 3000 (P4 dual core, 4gb). The only issues so far are, like Luna, lack of customisability. Its beautiful but a lot of users are looking for gnome-tweak-tools kind of stuff built in and it should be even if still only launching from terminal. Also, video is frustrating, but its more than likely Chrome as it tends to freeze and requires force closing when watching video full screen or even maximized window. Java 8 is a little unstable with but as well playing Minecraft full screen or max window as well (fps drop, 5-10 freeze)﻿

Communities

in elementary OS Freya, we have a handy little tool called CapNet Assist that comes to your rescue if you get stuck in a captive network like at a coffee shop or airport. It's just one of those little things :)﻿

It’s about asking a fair price to offset the costs of development. It’s about securing the future of elementary OS to ensure we can keep making software that millions of people love and use every day.

If we want to see the world of open source software grow, we should encourage users to pay for its development; otherwise it’ll be underfunded or developers will have to resort to backdoor deals and advertising. And nobody wants that future.

The post says make me rich cheaters for making an entire OS being developed for years, and at the end it is like "you can type 0 USD and download our OS, but we are going to wait for your money in a near future"I think they were very obnoxious.﻿

Volunteers needed: If you're a fan of elementary and want to help us out, we're looking for volunteers to help out at the booth. Nothing too demanding, plus free entry and a free tee-shirt. :) Let +Cassidy James Blaede know if you're in the area and want to help.﻿

+Daniel Kerkow This will be some work, but is planned (issue #7 on GitHub).+Icaro Perseo+Tim Bogdanov The page is indeed based on Jekyll (Now), but has a proper icon now and the design will change a bit too.﻿

We design and develop elementary OS and its apps. We believe in the powerful combination of beauty and freedom.

Introduction

elementary is a team of dedicated developers, artists, and everyday computer users who want to craft an incredible computing experience. We make elementary OS—an open source operating system andmany apps—and give them to users to help bring this goal to reality.

We believe in the powerful combination of a top-notch user experience, a beautiful interface, and the freedom to do with your computer what you like.